The Efficient Youhttp://www.theefficientyou.com
Systemizing Your Business as a SolopreneurThu, 20 Apr 2017 12:33:52 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.2Why Authors Should Exercise And How To Kickstart The Exercise Habithttp://www.theefficientyou.com/why-authors-should-exercise/
http://www.theefficientyou.com/why-authors-should-exercise/#respondWed, 08 Feb 2017 07:29:13 +0000http://www.theefficientyou.com/?p=801For the most part, you spend most of your time gluing yourself to the desk. You have a word count to meet. So, things like exercise become your least priority. If the idea of exercising for health benefit doesn't seem to excite you, then this blog post will let you see exercise in a different light.

“Not another post on why authors should exercise,” you cringe as you read the title. At this point, you already know that you should exercise. So, you don’t need me to repeat the same thing to you again.

If you already develop the exercise habit in your daily life, then good for you. But for most of us out there, we tend to treat exercise as the last thing we would want to do.

Keep in mind that becoming sedentary throughout the day only because you want to hit your word count won’t do you any good.

It will only make you prone to get a heart disease. And let’s not forget that it can make you to gain weight since you barely move.

Even if you’re pressed for time, you should at least move your body around. Heck, even a walk in the park is far better than getting yourself glued to your desk all day.

At the same time, you can use this opportunity to relax your brain. Feeling stuck and not knowing what to write for the next chapter?

Just get yourself moving. You’ll have a better clarity when you do that.

What exercise does for me

Back then when I was still in my online fashion retail business, I never had the time for exercise.

But I knew that I couldn’t be like this forever. There was no point for me to sacrifice my health in the name of work. That was just so uncool, in my opinion.

I only began to exercise five times a week when I made a switch to become a full-time author and began writing my first fiction book, The Diary of Modern Cinderella.

My only reason to exercise was just to move my body. I didn’t care so much about having washboard abs that looked the same as the female anime character figure.

All I care was to break myself from remaining sedentary.

And then, something magical happened. Not only I felt refreshed after my sweat session, but my writing flowed much better than before.

Not only that, I could write faster and still met my word count for that day.

In case you’re wondering, I tend to strive for 3000-word counts per chapter. Not only I was able to meet my word count, but I also exceeded it.

Does it have anything to do with exercise? Well, the answer is already obvious to you.

As an author, exercise can help you to become a lot more creative besides allowing you to have a better clarity on your work.

Creativity is an important aspect of a writer, whether you write fiction or non-fiction. Without creativity, your writing will only look and feel blah.

If exercising for health benefit doesn’t seem to excite you, then shift your mind to exercise just to make your manuscript a lot better than before.

I’m able to incorporate exercise into my writing life only because of this exact reason alone.

I tend to feel a lot more creative after my sweat session.

But I don’t have the time to exercise!

Well, that sounds good. But you still have no time to exercise. Even if you can take a stroll in the park, you feel like you can’t expect to have the exercise goodness if you only walk for five minutes.

I have no idea where the myth that exercising for a long hour will benefit your health came from. But one thing I know is you don’t have to exercise for a long hour to get the benefit I mentioned to you just now.

If you’re pressed for time, and you don’t feel like wanting to leave the house, then you can choose to exercise at home.

One of the programs that I highly recommend is PIIT28 by professional Pilates instructor, Cassey Ho. PIIT stands for Pilates Intense Interval Training, which is an extreme version of pilates.

The program itself is designed for people who have no time to exercise, where the workout is only under 30 minutes a day.

If you’re not sure if you should enroll in her PIIT28 workout program, you can also try to do her PIIT workout video on her YouTube channel.

I only do her PIIT video when it’s a part of the workout calendar. Even if I only do it for one time, it’s enough to make my whole body sores.

Just imagine how your body would feel if you have to do it three more times after you complete your first round.

I bet that your body must feel like you’re in heaven!

I didn’t enroll in her PIIT28 program since I prefer to follow her workout calendar. With the workout calendar, you’ll be doing an exercise targeting different areas of your body each day.

Her normal workout calendar will take around 45-60 minutes to complete. So if you don’t have the budget to invest in her PIIT28 workout program, then her normal workout calendar works just fine too.

You can get the workout calendar for free at her website, Blogilates. Once you sign up, you will receive a new workout calendar every month. Just follow her workout calendar, and you’re ready to go.

You don’t have to do a lot of guessing on what you should be working on for that day.

I have to credit her workout calendar for my workout habit. I doubt that I can stick to my exercise routine if it’s not because of her workout calendar.

But it still feels long to me!

I understand that PIIT28 workout program can still be long for some of us. The good news is there’s another workout program that only takes 12 minutes to complete.

The program is called PACE Express. And it’s designed by Dr. Al Sears, a medical doctor who is also an expert in anti-aging.

What’s even better, the program is also perfect for older people too since it doesn’t involve a lot of rigorous movement, unlike PIIT28.

So, if you feel like you need a workout buddy, then you can grab your mom to do the PACE Express exercise with you.

If you find PACE Express appealing to you, then you can get the program here:

]]>http://www.theefficientyou.com/why-authors-should-exercise/feed/0My Goals For 2017http://www.theefficientyou.com/my-goals-for-2017/
http://www.theefficientyou.com/my-goals-for-2017/#respondSun, 01 Jan 2017 09:48:50 +0000http://www.theefficientyou.com/?p=795The new year is here. So, I'm sharing my goals for 2017 that I'd like to achieve in this blog post. This blog post isn't just for me to share with you about my plans for 2017. But it's also another way for me to keep myself accountable.

I admit that it’s unusual for me to post something on my blog on Sunday. But hey, it’s the new year, and what’s the best time to talk about my goals for the new year other than today?

Just like what I did on my fiction blog, I also would like to share with you about my goals for 2017 that are specific to The Efficient You. It’s also another way for me to keep myself accountable.

With so many things I plan to do for this year, here are my goals for 2017 that I’d like to achieve.

Reviving The Efficient You

I admit that this blog seems dormant for a couple of months already. And I only begin to start posting on this blog this November.

I’m somewhat guilty that I didn’t update this blog on a consistent basis.

Since I’m busy with the upcoming book projects for this year, I’ve decided to commit myself to writing once a month on this blog.

To be honest, I was a bit worried that once-a-month update won’t do any justice to this blog. But considering how many projects that I’m tackling in 2017, that should be doable.

I may increase the frequency of the blog update in the near future. But for now, you can expect to receive a new update from me once a month.

Specifically, you can expect that the new blog post will be out during the first week on Wednesday.

Releasing the updated version of Online Store Blueprint

I’ve wanted to release the brand new version of my first non-fiction book, Online Store Blueprint since a few months back.

But I only manage to get around to updating it in the early December 2016. That book needs a major update.

When I began the rewriting process of the book, it looks like I had to do more than just a major update. It looks to me that I have to do a complete rewriting for this book.

In addition to updating the information in the book, I also added a few chapters as well.

I have no idea when I will release the updated version of the book. But I’m planning to release it in early 2017.

I’m also planning to release the same book as an audiobook. But that’s going to be in the middle of 2017 since I’ll be busy working on the second book from my Trigger Locked series and editing for my first novel, The Diary of Modern Cinderella.

Publish a new free e-book

Since this blog is about my experiments related to self-publishing, I should have a book related to self-publishing.

Unfortunately, I don’t have one.

I’m pretty sure that you come across the same information elsewhere. So, why in the world I should add more in a pile?

That’s what I think at first. But then again, everyone has a different experience when it comes to self-publishing, myself included.

What’s more, I’m an indie author who is not living in the same continent as other indie authors. In fact, I live in a country where self-publishing your book seems like a bizarre thing to do.

I don’t experience an adverse reaction when I tell people that I self-publish my book.

They just never thought that it’s possible to do so without causing a hole in their pocket.

I’d like to say my experience is a unique one. And I’m sure that you can learn from my experience even if you don’t face the same hurdle as I do.

So yes, my free e-book will be about my own version of self-publishing system.

I have no idea when I’m going to release this book since I haven’t written a single word for it. If you join my mailing list, then I will inform you as soon as the book is available for download.

In case you’re wondering, this e-book is only for my subscribers. If you haven’t joined already, then you should sign up here if you want me to notify you about the book.

Create and sell my first digital products

I’ve been playing around with the idea of creating a digital product. But instead of just creating books, I’m thinking about creating something that gives me a higher profit margin.

With this goal in mind, I’ve decided to create and sells worksheets. It’s something similar to the free checklist that you get upon joining my mailing list.

But unlike the one that you get for free, it’s going to be beautifully and professionally designed.

Just like the free checklist, the worksheets will be based on my personal experience in self-publishing.

And that also means you’ll get the updated version too if I happen to make changes to it.

I’m also planning to turn it into a subscription, so then you get every worksheet that I create. The worksheet on its own will cost a lot more than the cost of a subscription.

But then again, that’s just a rough plan. I may not release another checklist if I don’t receive any traction at all.

We’ll see how it goes then.

Create my first online course

The online course is another thing that I’d like to focus on in 2017. But just like everyone else, I have no idea what online course I should create.

After a long thought, I’ve decided to create my online course based on my book, Online Store Blueprint.

I may create another course for self-publishing, but we’ll see how it goes.

Starting my Patreon campaign

I’ve been playing around with the idea of creating Patreon campaign specifically for this site. But I end up scrapping the idea countless time since I have no idea what I should give to the patron.

I already have a rough idea of what I can give to them. But I haven’t finalized it yet.

If I can’t seem to think of what I should give to the patron, then I have no choice but to scrap the plan once again.

My personal goals for 2017

I do have quite a few personal goals that I like to achieve in 2017. But so far, these are the goals that I like to achieve the most.

Finish all the books that I have in the Kindle app

It’s funny when I say this, but I have a difficulty with reading all the books that I purchased on Kindle. As a result, the books end up piling up.

And it doesn’t help that I can’t resist myself from purchasing books that are only $0.99.

Currently, I have 43 books that I haven’t read on my Kindle app. That amount may seem little to some of you. Considering that I have so many things to do, it seems a lot to me.

I have no idea how long it will take for me to finish reading everything in the Kindle app.

Heck, I don’t know if I’m able to finish reading the books or not.

Have a proper working schedule

The downside of working from home is you may not have a proper working schedule. While it can be a blessing to some of us, it can be a curse too.

For me, I can’t seem to kick myself going to sleep early. Maybe it has a lot to do with my habit of working at night.

And it doesn’t help that I love to overdose myself with entertainment after I finish my work. It can be watching anime, reading manga and books.

There are also times that I’ll be binge-watching YouTube videos.

Starting this year, I’d like to see that I’m able to kick this bad habit for good. I have no idea how in the world I can do this.

So, I’m going to try whatever method that I come across and see what works. I’ll let you know the result soon.

What are your goals for 2017?

What are you planning to accomplish in 2017? Just let me know in the comment below.

]]>http://www.theefficientyou.com/my-goals-for-2017/feed/0Grammarly Review Updatehttp://www.theefficientyou.com/grammarly-review-update/
http://www.theefficientyou.com/grammarly-review-update/#respondWed, 07 Dec 2016 04:01:29 +0000http://www.theefficientyou.com/?p=777You probably have signed up for Grammarly and find that it helps with making your writings better. After a while, you feel like wanting to upgrade to the premium version. But you're not sure whether is it worth upgrading or not. This Grammarly review update is focusing on my experience with Grammarly Premium.

]]>http://www.theefficientyou.com/grammarly-review-update/feed/0How to Write Your First Nonfiction Book Checklisthttp://www.theefficientyou.com/how-to-write-your-first-nonfiction-book/
http://www.theefficientyou.com/how-to-write-your-first-nonfiction-book/#respondFri, 08 Apr 2016 05:39:11 +0000http://www.theefficientyou.com/?p=699The nonfiction book is the first book I've written when I began to transition myself as an author. But the book may never be possible if it's not because of this checklist that I got from Brian Tracy. And now, I'm sharing this checklist with you so then you start and finish your nonfiction book, especially if this is your first book.

Looking back, I feel that it’s amazing to be able to finish writing the book and publish it on Smashwords.

But then again, this book won’t even exist if it’s not because of the PDF file that I got when I was watching Brian Tracy’s interview with Brendon Burchard.

My credit goes to how to write your first nonfiction book checklist

In the interview, I remember that Brian Tracy told Brendon Burchard that he was able to publish 4-5 books a year thanks to his checklist.

The checklist itself outlines every single thing you need to do, starting from planning for the book to sending a book proposal to the literary agent.

Since I have decided to self-publish the book, my process ended with the book uploaded on Smashwords and Amazon Kindle.

Even though I didn’t make full use of the whole checklist, I was happy that the checklist itself outlined every single thing that I needed to do to get the book done.

What matters the most to me is to publish the book as soon as I finish writing it. Of course, I will still do the typical editing, copyediting and proofreading before I hit the publish button on Smashwords. I doubt that people will buy my book if it doesn’t look professional.

I’ve learned my lesson along the way, but that’s going to be another story.

The new checklist on how to write your first nonfiction book

Now, Brian Tracy has released another checklist which is also perfect for those who are just about to write their first nonfiction book.

I’ve also downloaded his latest checklist and loving it.

What I love about the new checklist is that it only has six steps you need to do, and it’s focusing solely on planning the book. When you have everything you need before you start writing, you have a better clarity on what your book is all about.

I admit that it’s much faster just to start writing. But there’s no point for you to do that if your idea just gets lost after a few pages.

Yes, I know. Coming up with a plan for the book feels like a drag, but this will save your time to get it done and publish it. Or, if you’re thinking of getting a book deal, you can spend more time on coming up with the book proposal and submitting it to the literary agents. Keep in mind that getting a literary agent takes a lot of time.

If you can save your time somewhere, then planning for your book will help you to make the writing process shorter. And you write faster too.

Not to mention, the checklist is FREE too. And you can even use it for your next book as well.

If you’re interested in getting the book planning worksheet by Brian Tracy, you can get it here:

Experienced writers will benefit from the worksheet too

While I like to focus on the new authors, this worksheet will also help experienced writers too. Sure, you may have your own process. But hey, it doesn’t hurt to use this worksheet to improvise your current process.

P.S For those of you who want the checklist that I’ve mentioned earlier, you can get it for FREE here. The process described in this guide is similar to the 6-Step Book Planning Worksheet, but it also includes the step to write a book proposal and find a literary agent.

]]>http://www.theefficientyou.com/how-to-write-your-first-nonfiction-book/feed/0My Honest Thought About Grammarly, The Free Grammar Check Onlinehttp://www.theefficientyou.com/free-grammar-check-online/
http://www.theefficientyou.com/free-grammar-check-online/#respondTue, 22 Mar 2016 05:30:02 +0000http://www.theefficientyou.com/?p=688One of the tools I'm using in my writing process is Grammarly. If you've been reading about Grammarly review online, some people just don't like to use it because they think it's plain inaccurate. Is that even true? Well, here's my honest thought about Grammarly.

It doesn’t matter what you write, it’s important to check your grammar and your typo before you hit the publish button. This is so true for authors because your writing is the main focus of your brand.

Imagine what your readers think when they notice that your sentences sound awkward because of the wrong grammar. And they dismiss you for being unprofessional because you don’t even double check that you have typos in your writing.

But then again, grammar mistakes and typos tend to slip under the radar despite our best effort to proofread every single line. What’s even worse, we only realize the mistakes once we hit the publish button.

Yes, I’ve been in this situation many times.

So, things like free grammar check online help me with my proofreading process. The one that I’m currently using is Grammarly.

Grammarly, the free grammar check online

I knew about Grammarly not from the writer community, but from a blog dedicated to helping fashion blogger, Independent Fashion Blogger.

Yes, I know. Sometimes, helps can come in many different ways and in the least places you expect.

Since English isn’t even my native language, Grammarly seems like a heaven sent to me because it will help me to fix my grammar mistakes and typos with a click of a button.

Who doesn’t want something so awesome, especially if it can automate the proofreading for us, right?

You see, my problem isn’t so much to do with typos. Rather, my problem is more about the grammar. What seems correct to me isn’t actually correct based on the grammar rules. Well, I didn’t know that since it’s hard to tell. And I’m pretty sure that I’m not the only who experience something like this.

As a recommendation from Jennine Jacob, the founder of IFB, I’ve decided to give Grammarly a try.

Grammarly test drive

Here’s how to use Grammarly to fix your grammar mistakes and typos. In this demo, I’m using Grammarly for Chrome plugin which is available for free. Grammarly Basic is free which allows you to fix grammar mistakes and typos.

When you make a mistake, Grammarly will highlight the mistake and tells you exactly what sort of mistake you make. In this case, my mistake is the confused preposition.

Once I click at the mistake, it will prompt to open the Grammarly app in the same window. From here, you’ll see your whole blog post, the highlighted mistake and the correction for the mistake.

If you feel that it makes sense to you, then simply click to correct the mistake.

When you do, it will correct your mistake automatically.

Once you exit the app, your corrected mistake will also be reflected in the original post. In this case, my grammar mistake is already fixed in the blog post.

You can also use Grammarly Native App which is available for Windows and Mac. I’ve yet to try the native app, but it works the same like the Chrome plugin.

The native app is perfect if you want to use Grammarly to check your manuscript. Before the release of the native app, you have to upload your manuscript manually on Grammarly.

Write something complex? Then go premium

While Grammarly is available for free, the free version can only help you with fixing grammar issues and typos. If you write something complex like a research paper or you want Grammarly to help you with the copyediting process, then it’s recommended for you to get the premium version.

The premium version allows you to:

Get customized check

Fix complex sentences

Find sentence structure and writing style issues

Give suggestions for more effective vocabulary usage

If you’d like to get the premium version of Grammarly, you can get it here:

Once you’ve signed up for the free version, you can choose to upgrade within your Grammarly dashboard. You can choose to pay monthly or annually for the upgrade.

My honest thought about Grammarly

Personally, I enjoy using Grammarly because it helps me with fixing my grammar. As an author and someone who is a non-native English speaker, grammar is something that I tend to struggle, especially when I don’t even know whether it’s correct or not according to the grammar rules.

Before Grammarly released the native app, I usually rely a lot on the Grammarly app for fixing my grammar mistakes and typos in my manuscript.

After using Grammarly for quite sometimes, I do notice that some mistakes aren’t detected by Grammarly. I don’t know why, but I don’t expect tools like Grammarly to be a perfect tool.

I’m pretty sure that Grammarly has improved a lot, so I tend not to be so critical about it. Or maybe my PC is being a bitch to me that it’s not fast enough to reflect the mistakes that I need to correct.

Despite the harsh critics that I’ve read online about Grammarly, I still recommend people to use it because it can catch mistakes that we don’t notice. For me, it’s better to have something that can help with your copyediting and proofreading than not having anything at all.

So, is Grammarly a perfect solution for those who doesn’t want to hire a proofreader for their work?

All I can say is you still need to do a manual proofreading for your work. That means you still need to print your manuscript and mark the mistakes with a red pen.

But when you combine Grammarly with manual proofreading, you save a lot of times correcting your mistakes. At least, Grammarly is able to keep your mistakes to a minimal.

Again, it doesn’t cost you anything to sign up since the Grammarly basic version is free. So, if you’d like to give Grammarly a try, you can sign up here:

]]>http://www.theefficientyou.com/free-grammar-check-online/feed/0How To Create An Author Website On The Self-Hosted WordPress Sitehttp://www.theefficientyou.com/self-hosted-wordpress-site/
http://www.theefficientyou.com/self-hosted-wordpress-site/#respondTue, 02 Feb 2016 13:09:46 +0000http://www.theefficientyou.com/?p=677You know the importance of having your own author website. You also know that it's better to have your own website on the self-hosted WordPress site instead of using the free blogs like Blogger and WordPress.com. But it can be complicated if you've never done it. This is what you need to know about creating an author website on the self-hosted WordPress.

As an author, I’m pretty sure that your author friends (or other successful authors) will insist that you need to OWN your platform. And they usually recommend having your website on a self-hosted WordPress site.

So what does owning a platform means?

When it comes to the author platform, it means that you need to have your own website and your own social media profiles. Well, that’s the gist of it.

If you already have a book released, whether you choose to self-publish or you’re traditionally published, then it makes sense to have your own platform. After all, this is a place where you can connect with your readers on a personal level.

Even if you’re an anti-social author, you still need to have one.

Free places won’t cut it

Congratulations if you already have a social media presence. And even better if you manage to accumulate your readers through your social media presence. I don’t have much success with my social media presence yet, but I’m pretty sure that I will eventually be there later on..

While I enjoy using Twitter and Tumblr (this is what I used to get people to get to know about me and my fiction books), it’s still not secure enough for me.

What I mean with being secure isn’t so much to do with how they secure my personal information. It’s more about whether the platform will exist for the next few years. Even if they do exist for the next couple of years, your readers will move elsewhere and your effort in building your presence on that said platform will become useless.

I don’t obsess with my Twitter followers number and how many people follow me on Tumblr, but I do obsess with how many people who have joined my mailing list. It’s not easy to move these people to my mailing list, but I don’t want simply anybody to join my mailing list.

Building your mailing lists is what all successful authors will tell you to do, but you can only do so if you have your own website.

Sure, you can paste the opt-in snippet on the free website like Blogger and even WordPress.com. Oh, here’s another pat on the back for having your own website. Some authors don’t even have one because they have no idea what to say on their own website.

But the concept of having a website on the free places like Blogger and WordPress.com is still as risky as having a presence on social media – you have no control over these places because, for the obvious reason, you don’t OWN any of them.

Since you don’t own any of them, anything can happen to you. Maybe they’ve decided to close down your website for no reason. Even if they don’t intend to do that, they may have decided to change the algorithm which for the most part, it doesn’t benefit us.

Take Facebook for example. Back in the old days, you don’t need to pay to get massive reach to your fans. But now, you can only get a similar reach like before they’ve made a change to their algorithm if you pay. Even if you pay to get your Facebook post to reach your fans, it still not as powerful like the last time.

If you want to get better traction on Facebook, then you have to use Facebook ads to reach your target readers. But still, they can change their policy in a heartbeat and whenever they wish. You have no choice but to comply with their changes.

While Facebook is widely known for shutting down Facebook pages for no reason, Google also has done the same thing with blogs on Blogger. I’ve heard countless stories about people’s blog on Blogger got shut down for no reason. Even if you confront Google, they have no obligation to tell you why they’re doing it.

At the end of the day, having your own platform is the best and the most secure way to maintain your online presence.

How can you do that? It’s none other than having your author website on a self-hosted WordPress site.

What you need to create an author website on the self-hosted WordPress

If you want to create an author website on the self-hosted WordPress site, you only need FOUR things:

A domain name (what you’d like to call your author website, and it’s usually your name or your pen name)

A hosting since self-hosted WordPress site requires you to have your own hosting

A premium WordPress theme so then you can have a professional-looking author site without hiring the web designer

WordPress plugins which you can install directly from WordPress plugin directory

Now, let’s dive in where you can purchase these things and what I personally use on all of my sites.

Domain name

There are many places you can choose to buy a domain name and the price varies depending on the extension (.COM, .NET, .ORG, etc). I highly recommend you to buy .COM extension because people usually remember the .COM extension more than any other extension.

If the extension you want is not available for your chosen name, then you need to come up with a different domain name. But I think it shouldn’t be a problem if you’re using your own name as a domain name. After all, your readers will put your author name in the address bar and with the .COM extension. That is unless you have a similar name to other people and that can be a huge problem.

I usually get my domain name from Namecheap because they’re cheaper than any other places I’ve seen. If you haven’t purchased your domain name, you can get it here:

Another place that you can buy a domain name is iWantMyName. This is a place where I bought a domain name for my Tumblr. I like iWantMyName because you can map the domain name for your Tumblr with a click of a button.

Too bad that you still need to do it manually for WordPress, though.

If you prefer iWantMyName over Namecheap, you can buy your domain name here:

Once you have purchased the domain name, we need to get a hosting first before we can do the DNS setup for your domain name.

Hosting

I bet that you’ve noticed your new domain also comes with its own nameserver. So, why we still bother to get ourselves our own hosting if the domain that we purchase also comes with its own hosting?

There are many reasons why we need to have a separate domain name and hosting. But for one, if you’ve decided to make a switch to a more stable server, then you don’t have to transfer the whole thing again.

If you’ve decided to switch to another server, the only thing you need to do is update the domain name with a new nameserver and you’re good to go.

Or maybe you want to host a few websites besides your author website. This is what I do with my hosting. The hosting that I’m using not only host The Efficient You, but it also hosts my author website.

Since I’ve been telling you to get a separate domain name and hosting, where can you get one?

One of the hostings I recommend is Hostgator. Just to let you know that this website and my author site are all hosted with Hostgator. What I love about Hostgator is it has a great customer support and it has minimal downtime.

You don’t have to get yourself a dedicated server for your website if you’re just starting out, so the shared plan will do just fine. I’m currently using a shared plan, though you can take the WordPress hosting if you intend to create any website using WordPress only.

The good thing about Hostgator is they always have special offer pretty much every month, but you can save more on your first month if you use the coupon code EFFICIENT to receive $9.94 off on your total order.

Premium WordPress theme

I understand that you may not want to spend money on things that you can get for free, especially when there are so many free, nice looking WordPress themes. Or, if you’re like me, you love to make changes on your WordPress theme when you feel like your current WordPress theme doesn’t do any justice to you.

Back then, this is what I felt. I didn’t want to spend on the premium WordPress theme simply because I might get bored with the theme. So, the premium theme that I bought would become useless and there was no reason for me to get one if I keep on changing how my site will look like.

Even though I like to change my WordPress theme like how I would change my clothes, I usually prefer to customize the theme to suit my brand. But the problem with the free WordPress theme is it was difficult to customize. That means if you don’t like the certain aspect of the theme, you have to tweak the CSS file of the theme.

While I can do a basic CSS tweaking, I prefer not to do it because it takes time.

On top of that, you have to install a lot of plugins since the free themes don’t come with the built-in function.

This is what makes premium WordPress theme appealing because you don’t need to install a lot of plugins thanks to the framework. Besides the framework, it’s a lot easier to customize how you want your author website to look like through the framework.

When it comes to premium WordPress theme, my absolute favorite is Divi from Elegant Themes. This is the only theme that I still use even until now because Divi allows me to customize the look in any way I want.

I won’t deny that it takes a creativity to create your desired layout with Divi. And I won’t deny that it takes a while to get used to it. But Divi happens to be the best theme I’ve ever used (I’m not exaggerating here, okay?) because of the customization feature.

If I happen to like the website layout, I can simply create a similar layout without doing any coding at all. If you know CSS, you can still tweak it if you want to. But in my case, I don’t have to since I can tweak it directly from Divi customization.

Want to see Divi theme in action? Well, just take a look at this website and my author website. Both sites are using Divi theme.

The only downside about Divi is you can’t get the theme alone. So, if you’d like to get a hand on Divi, then you have to subscribe to Elegant Themes to access Divi. Apart from Divi, you can also use other themes that they include in the subscription.

I was lucky that I was able to sign up with Elegant Themes before they increase the price. Back then, it was only $39 per year, but now it’s $69 per year. I highly suggest you to sign up with Elegant Themes fast before they increase their subscription fee. If you’re interested in getting Divi theme, you can get it here:

Besides premium WordPress themes, they also have premium WordPress plugins. You may say that you don’t need premium WordPress plugins because the free plugins will do just fine. But I do notice that some of the plugins don’t work well with Divi theme.

Well, that was way before and it seems that there’s no longer a conflict with the theme anymore. But there are some plugins that are totally unique which can help with enhancing your author website. If you like to get a hand on the premium plugins, you can get the Developer package which not only includes the premium plugins, but also the layered Photoshop files as well.

Alternative to Divi theme

You know that premium WordPress theme is important to your author business. While Divi sounds great to you, you don’t feel like playing around with the theme. You prefer to have your author website ready with minimal customization.

If this is you, then you can have a look at Genesis framework by StudioPress. For those of you who don’t know, these premium WordPress themes are by Copyblogger. I’m pretty sure that you’ve known about Copyblogger, even if it’s just a little. If you don’t, then shame on you!

While I’ve never used Genesis framework, I do know a few people who are using Genesis framework and they totally love it.

There are many premium WordPress themes to choose from based on what kind of websites you have, they also have a theme that is perfect for the author site. It’s called Author Pro Theme.

StudioPress also allows you to buy the child theme only if you have bought the Genesis framework with the child theme previously. So, if you’re like me who gets bored with your current theme easily, you don’t have to buy the Genesis framework again. Just buy the child theme, install it and you’re good to go.

This what makes premium WordPress theme worth every penny – installing a new theme won’t override the changes you did thanks to the framework.

WordPress plugins

While premium WordPress themes such as Divi and even the one by StudioPress, you still need to install the plugins because they don’t incorporate some features within the framework.

Installing WordPress plugins is easy. And the best part? The plugins that I recommend you to install are free and can be accessible through WordPress plugin directory in your dashboard.

What you need to do is to install the plugins, do the required settings for the plugins and you’re good to go.

Some of the plugins require you to register before you can use the plugin. But once you’ve done that, you’re good to go.

Here are the plugins that you need to install regardless what premium WordPress theme you use. These plugins are also used on The Efficient You and on my author website as well.

Akismet

Cross-Promotion Content Recommendations by Engageya

Google Analytics by Yoast

Google XML Sitemap

iThemes Security

jsDelivr – WordPress CDN Plugin

Limit Login Attempts

Magic Action Box

Po.st

Pretty Link Lite

Simple 301 Redirects

WordPress Popular Posts

WP Super Cache

Yoast SEO

YouTube

The cost of setting up your author website

Some of you may be skeptical with the cost involving creating an author website. But the good thing about self-hosted WordPress site is it’s not that hard to figure it out. On top of that, there are many WordPress tutorials that you can use as a reference if you don’t understand anything about WordPress.

So, here’s the breakdown of the cost of setting up your author website. Keep in mind that some of the things are only the estimated cost (ie. domain name)

Domain name = $12 (roughly for .COM extension)

Hosting (Hostgator Baby plan) = $9.95 (it will cost less if you use my coupon code THEEFFICIENTYOU to receive 25% off and there’s sale in Hostgator)

Premium theme = $69 for Divi theme by Elegant Themes (it will cost more if you get Developer package or one-time fee)

Total cost = $90.95

If you choose to get Developer package from Elegant Themes, the total cost will be $110.95. As for the one-time fee, the total cost will be $270.95 since the one-time fee is $249.

If you’ve decided to get Author Pro or Parallax Pro from Studio Press instead, the total cost will be $121.90 since the framework and the child theme is $99.95.

In other words, the estimated cost of setting up your author website will be between $90 to $271.

If you think setting up your author website is costly, then buy the essential things only such as the domain name and the hosting. You can buy the premium WordPress theme later on.

]]>http://www.theefficientyou.com/self-hosted-wordpress-site/feed/0Createspace Vs. Lulu: Which One You Should Use?http://www.theefficientyou.com/createspace-vs-lulu/
http://www.theefficientyou.com/createspace-vs-lulu/#respondTue, 28 Apr 2015 06:06:28 +0000http://www.theefficientyou.com/?p=572You may have heard about Createspace and Lulu but which one you should be using for publishing your paperback version of the book? Here's my thought about them and which service I end up using in the long run.

Unless you self-publish your own book, you have no idea how it feels like when you’re holding a book you’ve written on your hand. A sense of joy filled me when I was holding the physical copy of my first novel, The Diary of Modern Cinderella.

This isn’t the first time I’m publishing a book, but I always had this feeling for every book that I have published. This is the same feeling I had when I was publishing the paperback version of Online Store Blueprint.

Honestly, it wasn’t easy for me to come up with the decision to publish the paperback version of my book because I didn’t know how to begin. Heck, I don’t even know which service I should be using to publish the paperback version of my book. Or maybe I should just scrap the idea of publishing the paperback version of my book.

Just like many indie authors, I was also torn which print-on-demand (POD) service to use because well, their opinions varied. In the end, I’ve decided to give Createspace a try and later on using Lulu for The Diary of Modern Cinderella.

In case you’re wondering, the proof copy you’ve seen here is from Createspace. I don’t have anything to say other than it looks great.

If you’re still not sure which POD service you should do, here’s my own version of Createspace vs. Lulu comparison.

Lulu

Just like Createspace, Lulu also has many professional services to help you to get started with self-publishing but there’s also the DIY route if you don’t feel like splurging for the professional service.

Here’s what I love about Lulu:

Lulu provides a guided template on how to format your book based on your preferred trim size. The ZIP file also includes a blank template if you’re used with formatting for paperback.

They also have the option to publish a hardcover version of your book.

Lulu’s procedure isn’t as picky as Createspace so you’ll get your book approved, ready for printing in no time.

Lulu has the option to pay your royalty using Paypal though you can use EFT or check if you want.

Lulu is perfect for everyone especially if you live outside US. That’s what I thought initially until I’ve come across this problem.

You need to send your tax information manually. If you don’t do that, they can’t process the royalty for you until you submit the tax information to them. That also means you can’t add your Paypal account for your royalty payment.

The moment you submit your book, your book is live and available for purchase. That also means you won’t know what errors await you until you receive your proof copy.

Price per book is expensive so the retail price of your book will become more expensive.

You can say that I don’t have a good experience in using Lulu which is why I’ve decided to return to Createspace and use Createspace to publish the paperback version of The Diary of Modern Cinderella.

Createspace

This is the most common POD service used by the indie authors alike so it’s not a surprising thing why many indie authors would recommend you to use Createspace.

While my reasons for using Createspace is the same like everyone else, I also have my own reason why I’ve decided to use Createspace for publishing paperback.

The price per book is cheaper than Lulu and the quality is amazing too.

You can approve your copy online. Createspace has an online tool that allows you to see how the interior looks like when it’s printed so you can make a correction if there’s any.

Createspace will fix any minor error on your book cover such as transparency. The only thing that drive me crazy is Createspace keep on telling me that my image is less than 320dpi even though I was so sure that my image really is 320dpi.

You can submit your tax information online thanks to the digital signature. The process is more or less the same like how you submit your tax information for your Kindle publishing.

Despite having amazing experience with Createspace, there’s still something about Createspace that I don’t fancy though.

For international buyer, the expedited shipping is somewhat expensive so I have no choice but to opt for the cheapest shipping. That also means I have to wait for a month to receive my proof copy. That doesn’t include the delay during the festive season.

I can only receive a check for my royalty payment because they only have EFT for certain countries. Assuming I’ve met their payment threshold, my royalty payment will be deducted for processing the check in the foreign currency.

Which one I prefer

Honestly speaking, I’ll be more than happy to use Lulu even though the price per book is expensive. My reason for that is because they will pay your royalty using Paypal and it won’t take long for me to receive my proof copy because they’ll print your book closer to your country. So, the only reason why I don’t feel like using Lulu is only because I have to submit my tax information manually and I’m lazy to do that.

So in the end, I have to use Createspace because it’s a hassle-free and it’s cheaper too.

Does it sound like I’m forcing myself to use Createspace? Well, of course no. My only problem is the shipping and the royalty payment. The rest of them feels like a breeze for me.

Over to you

Which POD service are you using right now or plan to use? Share your opinions in the comment below. If you’re using other POD services besides Createspace, Ingram Spark, and Lulu, feel free to share it in the comment below too.

Not sure you get it? Well, take a look at the places like Smashwords where they provide you a thorough guideline on how to format your e-book so then your e-book will pass the meatgrinder (that’s what they call their proofing system, no kidding about that).

Publishing a paperback, on the other hand…they don’t really have useful guideline, I must say.

That’s just the tips of the iceberg though. After going through the same process for publishing the paperback version of my first novel, The Diary of Modern Cinderella, you can say that I’ve matured enough when it comes to paperback publishing.

While what I’ve listed in my paperback publishing checklist may not be a rocket science to most of you, I still think it’s worth mentioning it considering that you still need to know how to put things in order.

Who should be using this checklist

That’s a valid question. Regardless of what stage you’re in, whether you’re new to paperback publishing or you’ve just published your 10th book, this checklist will make sure that you don’t miss any of the critical steps before your book sees the world.

Veteran or newbies, it doesn’t hurt to have a handy list like this in your disposal especially for those who prefer the DIY approach like I do.

Paperback publishing checklist

I wish I had this beforehand when I was publishing my first book, Online Store Blueprint as a paperback back then. Consider yourself lucky then.

Make sure that your book is fully edited

Before you attempt to do anything else, make sure that your book is fully edited and proofread. Even if you haven’t decided your book trim, you have to include the page number. If you have your own ISBN, don’t forget to add that in your book as well.

If you’ve decided to use Createspace-assigned ISBN, then you need to add your book first before you can get your own ISBN for the book.

Choose which print on demand (POD) you want to use

If you’ve already decided, then this should be a piece of cake to you but if you don’t, then you need to decide which print-on-demand service you’re using before you proceed.

Unless you want to print your book in batches and you believe you can sell all of them, using a print on demand service is the best option if you’re not sure whether people will buy your book or not. Not only it will save you lots of money by only printing when you received order, you don’t have to worry about the inventory too.

There are many POD service to choose from such as Createspace, Lulu or Ingram Spark but majority of people I know use Createspace to publish a paperback.

I personally use Createspace for publishing my book and even after I’ve tried publishing on Lulu, I end up coming back to Createspace.

I’ll be talking about my experience with Createspace in my next blog post.

Decide what trim size you want to use

Keep in mind that not all trim size will qualify for extended distribution. Regardless of what POD service you use, they will tell you which trim size is qualified for extended distribution and which one is not.

All of my books are in 6″x9″ trim size since it’s the US standard size to qualify for distribution and I personally prefer bigger book.

If you’re not sure what trim size you should be using, take a look at what trim size used in your genre. They’re not necessary use 6″x9″ trim size so do your research thoroughly before you proceed to the next step.

Download the template of your preferred trim size

Once you have decided which trim size you want to use, then you can download the template and copy paste your manuscript in the template itself.

The template from Createspace doesn’t seem to have a thorough guideline on how you can format your book exactly like the books you’ve seen published by traditional publisher so I prefer to download the book template from Lulu instead.

Lulu, on the other hand, has a simple guideline on how to format your manuscript for paperback publishing so if you attempt to do the formatting on your own, then the guideline is very handy for you.

Format your manuscript for the paperback version

Formatting your manuscript is also as important as editing and proofreading process so don’t neglect this part no matter what.

People can also leave negative feedback if your book isn’t formatted properly because books that are poorly formatted can really disrupt the reading experience, unlike books with grammar mistakes.

So yes, readers can tolerate if your book has mild grammar mistakes but certainly no-no for poorly formatted book.

For Online Store Blueprint, I hired someone from Fiverr to do the formatting for my book but I’ve managed to format my novel, The Diary of Modern Cinderella on my own thanks to the formatting guideline from Lulu.

Download book cover template

If you already have a designer to do the book cover for you, good for you. If you’ve decided to do the book cover design on your own, then download the book cover template so then you get the right dimension for your book cover.

You can easily download the book cover template from CreateSpace or Lulu, but I got mine from Lulu. If you decide to download the template from Lulu but you’re actually publishing the book on CreateSpace, keep in mind that you don’t have to place barcode on your book cover since CreateSpace will place the barcode on the book cover for you.

Design the paperback book cover

At this point, I’m pretty sure that you already done with your e-book cover design. If you’re hiring a designer to design your book, then don’t forget to request the book cover design for your paperback version.

If you’re into DIY book cover, you have to design the spine and the back cover besides the front cover.

Personally, I find that designing cover for the paperback version is hell for me because your image has to be at least 300dpi and I don’t have fancy graphic tool other than GIMP to create an amazing book cover.

Luckily, Derek Murphy from Creative Indie has written a thorough guideline on how to create the paperback book cover in Microsoft Word which in my opinion is amazing. I’ve tried creating a paperback book cover for The Diary of Modern Cinderella in Microsoft Word and I didn’t have much problem with passing CreateSpace book cover guideline.

I haven’t received my proof copy yet, but I bet the book cover is a lot better than the one I did for Online Store Blueprint.

Submit your book cover and your formatted manuscript to the POD service

I have never used Ingram Spark so I have no idea about their process but as for Lulu and CreateSpace, you have to upload your book cover and the manuscript before you can order your proof copy.

If you’re uploading your manuscript on CreateSpace, you can preview your manuscript online so you can see how your manuscript will look like when it’s printed. At this stage, CreateSpace will flag whatever issues that they find will affect your manuscript so if you have any error, you can fix it and reupload the file again.

As for the book cover, they will inform you if there’s any issue you have to fix with your book cover but they will only inform you within 1 working day because they usually do manual checkup (is that even correct?) on your book cover. They usually will fix whatever issue you have such as transparency on your image file, but they won’t be doing anything at all if your image is less than 300dpi.

Once you have uploaded the book cover, you can’t make any changes at all until they have taken a look at your book cover. You can only upload the new version of your book cover when they’re done with the evaluation.

The book cover evaluation is the only thing that drives me nuts the most but thank goodness that there’s no major issue when I’m publishing The Diary of Modern Cinderella.

Order your proof copy

When you feel that everything is okay, then you can order your proof copy. No matter how long you’ve been publishing paperback book, I still highly recommend you to purchase your proof copy just to make sure that the finished product looks perfect.

You can skip this process if you want to since what you see in the preview tool is the same as the proof copy, but it doesn’t hurt to order a proof copy either. It feels amazing to hold your own book physically because that’s how I feel when I finally got my proof copy for Online Store Blueprint.

Approve your book

Are you happy with what you’ve seen in your proof copy? Then you should approve your book so then the book will be available on Amazon and other online bookstores.

Over to you

Publishing a paperback version of your book is not easy when you’re doing it for the first time, but I can guarantee you that it will be easier the more you do it.

Now, did I miss anything in the checklist? Just let me know if you feel that there’s something missing by leaving a comment.

]]>http://www.theefficientyou.com/paperback-publishing-checklist/feed/0Why You Should Publish Your Book in Paperback As Wellhttp://www.theefficientyou.com/publish-your-book-in-paperback/
http://www.theefficientyou.com/publish-your-book-in-paperback/#respondTue, 03 Mar 2015 05:09:18 +0000http://www.theefficientyou.com/?p=561You thought that ebooks rule your book sales but having a paperback version in addition to your ebook version won't hurt you either. Find out why you should have your book available in paperback because I'm certain that you'll be shocked with this finding as well.

As the technology changes the way we go about our life, it also changes the way we consume information so having an ebook in our disposal is one of them.

By this time, I’m pretty sure that most of us may have read any book (Fifty Shades of Grey, anyone?) on our mobile device and if you don’t have any, I’m pretty sure you have Kindle or Nook reader on your PC as well.

Okay, you don’t like Kindle and let alone Nook but at least you may have read any books in PDF format.

I like the fact that ebook is convenient because I can read the book on my mobile device whenever I go. Heck, I don’t have to worry that I’ll clutter my bookshelf since I can’t resist myself getting free books from the authors that I have admired.

Not only ebooks make my bookshelf less cluttered, it’s cheaper than getting the paperback version too.

What’s even better, I can get the book that I want easily because I doubt that the book will be available in Malaysia no matter how long I wait. So yes, ebook is all the way for me.

Despite that, I still think that paperback rocks and I doubt that I’m the only one who thinks like that.

The problem with ebook

Unless you print the book (which I doubt you do that anyway), you’re mostly like will read the book on your mobile device or on your PC. Regardless of what you do for a living, you’re mostly staring at the computer screen most of your time. If you’ve been staring at the computer screen for so long, do you think you want to read anything on the computer screen again?

In most cases, I don’t even want to read anything on the computer screen and this is the time I will yell “Gimme a break.”

I know most of us are so hooked with our mobile device so you’ll still want to look at it even if your eyes are already feeling tired. But still, you won’t be looking at it for so long because the glare will make you feel more tired. At this point, reading an ebook on your mobile device will make you tired than you already are.

That doesn’t even count when you can’t read your favorite ebooks when your phone battery died or your PC suddenly crashed.

As for the non-fiction books, I don’t think using non-fiction ebooks as a reference will be easy for you. Well, maybe it’s easy for you but it’s certainly not easy for me.

Why paperback won’t go away anytime soon

Here’s a fun quote I’d like to share if you think you can go away without publishing paperback for your book. This is also the reason why you should publish your book in paperback.

Ebook sales in the USA made up 23% of unit sales for the first six months of this year, while hardcover’s accounted for 25% and paperbacks 42% of sales – Nielson Books & Consumer

Now, don’t you think by not publishing your books as a paperback feels like you’re leaving money on the table?

Okay, I admit that you can only make a decent amount of money from book sales but you can still make an extra money by spinning your books into multiple formats.

Sure, it takes awhile for your book sales to explode but it doesn’t hurt to add another format that will add up to your overall book sales.

What’s my plan for my books

I already had my first book, Online Store Blueprint available as a paperback version though I admit that the cover isn’t professionally done. But hey, at least it’ll be a lot easier for you to use it as a reference.

I’m also going to do the same thing for my fiction books too and that includes the ebook version of the novella that I intend to give it for free. In other words, all of my books will be available as a paperback version.

Sure, it’s a bit costly unlike ebook because you have to purchase your proof copy for you to see before you approve it but I think it makes your books more appreciated than the ebook version.

What makes me decided to have my books available as a paperback version doesn’t have anything to do with the statistics. It’s more like having a physical book in my hand makes me appreciate my hard work even more.

Over to you

Do you intend to publish your book as a paperback based on the statistics? Share your thoughts in the comment below.

]]>http://www.theefficientyou.com/publish-your-book-in-paperback/feed/0Giving Your Novels For Free Book Marketing Strategies: Should You Do It?http://www.theefficientyou.com/book-marketing-strategies-1/
http://www.theefficientyou.com/book-marketing-strategies-1/#respondTue, 24 Feb 2015 07:28:44 +0000http://www.theefficientyou.com/?p=547Honestly speaking, I'm somewhat reluctant to give my books for free despite majority of the indie authors I know did give their books for free in order to build readership and their own fan base. Here's why I initially thought giving away your books for free is a bad idea, what makes me change my mind about it and what I'm planning to do to implement this book marketing strategy.

I’m pretty sure you know a lot of indie authors who would give their books for free as a part of their book marketing strategies. Some authors that I know such as Joanna Penn and Ruth Ann Nordin did say that they give some of their books for free just to get more readers interested in their work.

In the case of Joanna Penn, she also had posted her books on Wattpad and to my surprise, she also posted all chapters from her book (just one of her book that I’ve noticed though) despite the book is available for purchase on Amazon Kindle.

Even in Ruth Ann Nordin’s book, Where’s The Money (in case you’re wondering, this book is available for free on Smashwords), she also said that she gave some of her works for free just to get people to be interested in her works.

Now, since almost every indie author that I’ve come across do this as a part of getting readers to be interested in what they have to offer, so should you and I do the same too?

Why I think this kind of book marketing strategies is a bad idea

I’m not sure about you but I feel reluctant to give my books for free because you spent countless hours to write the book and not to mention, countless editing and paying for the book cover design and illustration. For obvious reason, you should be compensated for your writing and every effort you have poured in getting the book published. That’s what I feel but at the same time, there’s another reason why I feel so reluctant to follow this approach.

I do notice that people who have gotten my book for free may or may not read my book simply because they got it for free. Maybe they will read my book later but as we already know, later will never come and the book ends up collecting dust in their computer (or whatever device they’re using to read).

I know that everyone isn’t like that, but most of them do.

Assuming that you expect a little traction from your free book such as getting them to your email list or buying another books from you, they may not do what you hope to do because well, they don’t even read the first page of the book, let alone reading it until the very end.

That’s what happened to me when I was publishing Online Store Blueprint. Initially, the book itself was free but it only covered the fundamentals for creating an online store on WordPress. At the end of the book, I’m offering them a service where I can do the setup for them for free in exchange for them to buy the hosting via my affiliate link.

Unfortunately, I didn’t receive any traction at all so I decided to make a paid version of the book, with more in-depth about creating and managing an online store.

I admit that giving my book for free initially is a huge failure on my side but after thinking through, I think this kind of book marketing strategies may work again next time.

Why I change my mind after that

When it comes to non-fiction book, giving your books for free may not do so well unless you do have a different version of your book such as paperback and audiobook which can be the paid version of the book.

Some authors I know give their paperback version for free and have other versions of their book to be available as a paid version of the book. Some authors on the other hand did the other way around. Regardless of what strategy they use, it still creates traction for their business which is an amazing thing to happen in their business.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get any traction at all with that kind of strategy but I do notice one thing about how giving your books for free will work to your advantage: you will only get traction if it’s something that interest your readers.

I admit that I received so many free books but the one that I never bother to read (fiction and non-fiction) are the kinds of books that I’m least interested. No matter how much people are raving about it, I won’t bother to read if it’s not interesting to me.

In the case of non-fiction book, the reason why they didn’t bother to take any action even if it’s free is mostly because they’re scared to take any action, procrastinate a lot, lazy to take the first baby step or perhaps, they’re not your target market.

You’re probably a consultant or a professional in your field so the reason, why you write a book, is because you want to showcase your expertise. They know you’re an expert in what you do thanks to your book so if they’re thinking of hiring you, they may not even have the money to do it because they know it must be expensive to hire you to help them with their business. They probably bought your book because they wanted to do it by themselves.

I noticed this pattern in my non-fiction book but at the same time, I also notice the opposite is quite true as well.

Let’s take a look at this from the readers’ point of view assuming that they really love the book which is in the same genre as yours. If they discover your book in their preferred genre and your book is free, they’ll be more than happy to give your book a try. If they think you’re worth a shot, they’ll certainly buy your other books or join your mailing list.

I’ve seen this pattern for myself too because I tend to buy more books by the same author if I find it interesting. Even if I get the book for free, I will eventually buy the books and the next releases.

This is my guess but at the end of the day, I still think giving your book for free isn’t a bad strategy at all.

What I’m planning to do next

I’ve decided to release my novellas for free as a way for me to build my own fan base. Rather than making a separate story for my novella, I’ve decided to write a novella which is related to my next novel. The novel won’t come up for next few months so I’ll be using the novella to make people interested in next novel.

In order to focus my effort on creating novellas for my next book releases, I’ve also made my decision to reduce my blog update for The Efficient You so I’ll only update this blog twice a month instead of every week like I used to do.

Now, that’s for the blog update as far as I’m concerned.

I’ve also started posting my story and the excerpt from The Diary of Modern Cinderella on Wattpad so I’ll be posting my free novellas on Wattpad as well. The novellas will be available for free on Smashwords and Amazon Kindle too because not everyone has Wattpad account and some may prefer to have a digital copy for the novellas.

Besides that, I’m also planning to release a free novella specifically for those who will join my mailing list but that novella will be available for purchase on Smashwords and Amazon Kindle. The novella will only cost them $0.99 if they don’t want to join my mailing list or maybe they prefer Kindle version for whatever books they buy.

Honestly, I’m not sure whether this strategy will work for me this time but as usual, I’m looking forward to sharing my results on this blog.

Over to you

Have you considered giving your books for free in order to build readership? Does giving your books for free give traction to your book sales for your other books? Share your thoughts in the comment below.